Lea Davison

  
  


Date of Birth: May 19, 1983
Height: 5'6"/1.68m.
Weight: 125 lbs./56.7kg./8.9st.
Place of Birth: Syracuse, New York
Hometown: Jericho, Vermont
Residence: Jericho, Vermont
Teams: Specialized Factory Racing (2011-13), Maxxis/Rocky Mountain (2009-10), Trek/VW (2006-08), Team Devo (2000-05)
Education: Environmental Studies with a focus in Conservation Biology degree, 2005 Middlebury College
Website: www.littlebellas.com
Blog: in-the-arena-leadavison.blogspot.com
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Olympic/World Championship experience

  • 2012 Olympic Games, London, England (11th place, cross-country)
  • 2012 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Sallfelden, Austria (8th place, cross-country)
  • 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Champerey, Switzerland (10th place, cross-country)
  • 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Val di Sole, Italy (19th place, cross-country)
  • 2007 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Fort Williams, Scotland (25th place, cross-country)
  • 2001 UCI Junior Mountain Bike World Championships, Vail, Colorado (7th place, junior cross-country)

National Championships

  • 2013 USA Cycling Cross-Country Mountain Bike National Championships, Macungie, Pa. - short track cross-country, cross-country
  • 2012 USA Cycling Cross-country Mountain Bike National Championships, Ketchum, Idaho - Short Track
  • 2011 USA Cycling Cross-country Mountain Bike National Championships, Ketchum, Idaho - Super D
  • 2004 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships, Seven Springs Mtn Resort, Pennsylvania - Div. II Short Track
  • 2004 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships, Seven Springs Mtn Resort, Pennsylvania - Div. II Cross-country

Career Highlights

  • 1st place — 2013 US Cup Fontana City National, Fontana, CA, Cross-country
  • 1st place — 2013 US Cup Fontana City National, Fontana, CA, Super D
  • 1st place — 2013 US Cup Fontana City National, Fontana, CA, Short track
  • 3rd place — 2013 US Cup Bonelli Park Pro Triple Crown, Bonelli Park, CA, Cross-country
  • 2nd place — 2012 CrossVegas, Las Vegas, NV
  • 5th place — 2012 UCI Montain Bike World Cup, Windham, N.Y., Cross-country
  • 7th place — 2012 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, Cross-country
  • 1st place — 2012 Foothill Classic XC, Bakersfield, CA, Cross-country
  • 7th place — 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup #6, Nové Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, Cross-country
  • 6th place — 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup #7, Val di Sole, Italy, Cross-country
  • 1st place — 2011 Missoula XC, Missoula, MT, Cross-country
  • 1st place — 2011 Santa Ynez Valley Classic, Los Olivos, CA, Short track
  • 1st place — 2011 Santa Ynez Valley Classic, Los Olivos, CA, Cross-country
  • 1st place — 2011 Fontana City National Pro XCT, Fontana, CA, Super D
  • 1st place — 2011 Bonelli Park Pro XCT, San Dimas, CA, Super D
  • 1st place — 2011 Bonelli Park Pro XCT, San Dimas, CA, Short Track
  • 1st Overall — 2009 Green Mountain Stage Race, Vermont
  • 1st place — 2008 Sea Otter Classic, Monterey, California, Pro Short Track

Points of Interest

  • If Lea wasn't professional mountain biking, she would have pursued a professional skiing career. She grew up downhill ski racing, and as a teenager enrolled full-time in a tutorial program at Smuggler's Notch in Vermont so she could practice skiing daily.
  • Lea is an avid croquet player after playing daily while battling mononucleosis.
  • Lea and her sister, Sabra, co-founded and are co-directors of a non-profit, all-girls mountain bike mentoring program called Little Bellas.

Personal

Some kids are just born to be athletes. Whether it is through athletic parents or other circumstances, some kids are simply proficient at whatever sport they pursue. That was the case with Lea Davison.

Her mom encouraged Davison and her sister, Sabra, to pursue any sport they desired. The girls tried everything from soccer, backpacking trips, sailing and windsurfing, but the two sports that really stuck were downhill skiing and cross-country running. Davison spent a lot of her youth skiing Vermont's abundant mountains. During the winter, Davison didn't attend normal high school, but instead enrolled full-time in a tutorial program at Smuggler's Notch so she could train daily. She continued skiing and competed on Middlebury College's team. She won the eastern collegiate slalom title, went to the NCAA national championships and placed 11th in the slalom, and was the captain as a senior. In high school, she earned the state championship twice in cross-country. She and her sister co-captained the school's running team to a pair of state titles.


It was while she was training for cross-country as a junior in high school that a boyfriend encouraged her to join the school's mountain bike club. That summer, she participated in weekly rides on Wednesday nights at the Catamount Outdoor Center, and her passion for cycling only grew from there.

Success quickly came, too. Davison placed seventh at the 2001 UCI Junior Mountain Bike World Championships in Vail, Colo. She also posted strong results for Middlebury College, winning the women's Division II short track and cross-country national championship races in 2004. As a professional, Davison continued to have success and found the podium twice (fourth in cross-country and third in short track) at the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships.

After suffering a hip injury in late 2009 that kept her off the bike the entire 2010 season, Davison enjoyed perhaps her best season as a cyclist in 2011. In addition to winning the super D and placing second in the cross-country race at the 2011 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho, Davison registered a pair of top-10 finishes in UCI Mountain Bike World Cups before placing 10th at the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Champery, Switzerland.

The Davison sisters co-founded and are co-directors of a non-profit, all-girls mountain bike mentoring program called Little Bellas. They run Sunday sessions and have a two-week long camp in Vermont. In 2010, the program expanded to a national level and now hosts a three-day camp in conjunction with the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, Calif., as well as another camp at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival in Cable, Wisc. The Little Bellas is a mountain bike organization whose goal is to help young women realize their potential through cycling.

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